


Are You DJ Cupid Now

by IncurablePeppermint



Category: OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes
Genre: F/F, F/M, First Dates, I would say Rad likes Robots and Back in Red Action are necessary watches before reading, Matchmaking, Misunderstandings, Multi, Not really spoilery but helps with the "They misunderstand but you the reader don't" things, Snooping, Spying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-20
Updated: 2018-10-21
Packaged: 2019-07-14 22:55:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16050260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IncurablePeppermint/pseuds/IncurablePeppermint
Summary: Radicles has been down in the dumps since his tiny trist with Shannon ended and Enid hatches a plan to cheer him up though hacking and matchmaking, even though it's not her usual style. Though some of her requests for help and advice may get misinterpreted.





	1. Chapter 1

So, Rad said that he was totally over Shannon. Which would make sense, since he really only started liking her because she got zapped into a different personality by lightning, right? But he was definitely lying. Shannon is outside right now in her frayed halloween wig with lipstick drawn all over her face as a “disguise” to spy on them and instead of actually doing anything about it Radicles just keeps peeking outside when he thinks no one is looking and giving a longing sigh. 

Unfortunately for him it’s a slow day and Enid doesn’t have to put any energy into ignoring customers at the moment, so the only thing there is to do is keep her phone out and hope he does something clumsy she can catch on video. Not to post online, of course. Just to show to K.O. in case he starts feeling like Rad is a good role model again. As much as she cares about Rad and thinks of him as a good friend she really doesn’t want K.O. to pick up too much from him. 

She’d _love_ to razz him about this. It’s their dynamic. She makes hilarious jokes about everyone and everything but especially Rad. _But_ maybe she has been razzing him a little too much and she should do something that shows she cares about him as a friend. Something that doesn’t involve her saying that out loud, because that would be so weird that she would die on the spot. 

And honestly the more she thinks about it the more she realizes that Shannon didn’t really have a different personality when zapped. She was as dramatic as she always was. She just had the capacity to care about people she wasn’t  _ programmed _ to care about. There’s gotta be a way to make that happen again. Trick her into eating lightening nachos. Throw her into Sparko. Lure her out during another storm. Something.

Something soon, preferably. Enid is getting tired of Radicles taking breaks to eat ice cream in the supply closet. He didn’t think anyone knew about the breaks, but Enid knew. No one could escape her ninja-hearing. Plus she intended to hide in there from Pird one day and instead spotted him running in with a tub in tow, scooping ice cream into his mouth with his hand. Gross.

Besides, even if this was a bad match she couldn’t say she had better taste. She shudders at the thought of her middle school crushes. Anyone who treated her with a tiny speck of kindness at that time caused butterflies in her stomach. Maybe Rad was in a similar position, except in his case it was anyone who showed romantic interest. Which would be… No one. Since middle school. Really. Until Shannon.

The worst that could happen if she sets them up is that they break up. So he'd be torn up, but he already is torn up. And if he had an  _ actual _ date with her then he might feel more able to go to friends for comfort instead of crying alone with mops and protein powder.

But… What does Enid know about romance? The tunes to set the mood, maybe. Everything else, not so much. And she still has to get Shannon back to her zapped self. Maybe Dendy could help with that part, but the date itself? The cool teens, sure. She's friends with Red Action and between the three of them there must be  _ some _ dating experience. Probably a ton, actually. 

Enid’s thoughts are interrupted by Dogmun squeaking a toy in front of her. He actually has a ton of toys in a basket like he’s supposed to, but couldn’t resist carrying one in his mouth. Gross. “Just a moment, sir. I’ve got to get change for the register,” she assures him before putting up a ‘back in five’ sign and walking straight out the door to get started on her plan. She’ll find Red and her crew first, setting up the date will take more time than kicking Shannon’s metal butt and forcing a lightning nacho into her dumb face.

Unfortunately only Drupe and Gregg are hanging in their usual alley. Who are fine. Totally fine. It’s just that Enid  _ might _ be a little nervous talking to Red’s friends without her around as a buffer. Especially since she’s asking for help. Drupe offers her a cheerful wave. 

“Enid, looking for Red?”

“Sort of.”

“She’s got a dentist appointment today, see?” Drupe holds up her phone to Enid, showing a picture of Red with her thumbs up in a waiting room. It’s captioned ‘dental hygiene’ and has a few stickers popped onto it. “She’ll be back this afternoon, though, so....”

“No, no. That’s okay.” Enid kicks the dirt lightly. “I wanted advice on something, if you guys don’t mind helping out?”

Gregg and Drupe look at each other, both with a knowing smile. “Sure thing, Enid. What is it?”

“I’m planning a date for two ‘friends’ of mine and I’m great with tunes but not so much the other stuff. I guess.”

Drupe gives a little squeal that is both startling and confusing to Enid, then starts scrolling at hyper speed through her phone. “Well, you’ll need to do something… Exciting! But still romantic. Maybe a picnic in the Danger Zone!” Gregg shakes his head, then whispers something in Drupe’s ear. “Oh, they did, yeah.” She scrolls a little longer, then holds her phone out again to show a picture of a promotional poster for an upcoming festival. The main image is a strong arm curled up, it looks like Fox-Tail’s given the small bits of the costume visible. “The Big Gun Hero Festival! A big day out but cram packed with neat weapons and kicking techniques, she’ll love it!”

Enid is fairly certain there’s been some misunderstanding, but just nods. “Uh, sure. I’ll think it over. Thanks Drupe, Gregg.” She walks off with her hands in her pockets, trying to come up with something that fits Drupe’s criteria but doesn’t seem as dangerous a choice for Shannon as a  _ hero _ festival. The Danger Zone idea didn’t actually seem that bad. She pulls out her phone and looks up the area, to see if maybe something was going on there. Nothing. She wonders for a moment what Gregg and Drupe might’ve been saying about it that made them decide against the idea.

It doesn’t matter too much. The Danger Zone is a  _ sick _ place to go on a date. As long as they stay in Rad’s van through the neverending electric storm. Though maybe it’s more of an Enid place to go than a Radicles place to go. But wherever they go it  _ does _ have to be away from the plaza, because Darrel and Raymond would definitely ruin a date anywhere near here. If it’s far enough away she can hold them off.

Enid sighs as she leans against Rad’s van. This might be harder than she first thought. Whatever, though, as long as she never has to see Rad eat protein powder with a spoon again. Disgusting. She gives the door of the van two knocks and the window rolls down to reveal Dendy, hiding out inside as usual. 

“Hello, Enid. Did Radicles send you to shoo me out of his vehicle again?”

“Not this time, Dendy. I need your help with something. With robots.”

“Oh! That is a subject I am proficient in. What do you require?”

“It’s kind of weird but… Shannon got electrocuted awhile back and it made her  _ nice _ ? Sort of. I want to make that happen again.”

“I see. You were right to come to me. You cannot guarantee another electrocution would produce the same results. Tell me, were there visible differences in Shannon during this time?”

“I don’t really remember. I think that green thing on her chest was pink?”

“Interesting. And the electrocution. How did that happen?”

“Lightening, actually.” Enid snorts, “She and her brothers thought it was a good idea to fight in a thunderstorm.”

“That is a bad idea, since they are metallic and relatively tall. The rain may have also been causing damage to small circuits if she was not properly sealed.”

“Yeah. But, what do you think Dendy, can you help out?”

“Well, I have been studying Mr. Logic’s circuitry for extra credit. I suppose I could apply what I’ve learned from him and what little information you’ve given me to try to replicate the lightening’s effect on Shannon.”

“Sweet, thanks Dendy!”  
“But…”

“Oh! You want something in return? How about some POW cards?”

A serious expression quite suddenly comes across Dendy’s face and she pushes her glasses up her nose back into place. “Two packs,  _ plus _ a mega-booster if this plan actually works.”

Enid smiles and turns towards the van to offer her hand, “You drive a hard bargain, kid, but I think I can handle that.” Dendy shakes her hand and grins.

“Alright, now leave me be. I need time to make this happen.” Once Enid’s hand is out of the way she rolls the window up again. 

Enid looks to the bodega. Dogmun is at this point lying on the floor in front of the cash register with his basket on the counter and the toy he was chewing earlier in his arms. It doesn’t seem like he’s going to give up on his shopping anytime soon. She sighs and heads back in, deciding to cash him out as long as he took Gar’s last lashing about keeping money in a wallet and not his mouth to heart.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dendy confronts Enid about Shannon's wiring, Enid confronts Shannon about Rad's protein powder addiction

“So, you’re saying that she’s…  _ Not _ totally evil?”

“Well, I do not think that anyone is completely evil. You should find that, according to the data I have compiled, even the worst villains have redeeming qualities hidden beneath their dark exteriors.”

“Dendy.”

“Right, right. No philosophy before noon. How to put this… Due to the manufacturing process that Boxmore utilizes, Shannon’s ‘error’ has… Seeped into her newer models. It could be seen in her viral form in the cloud, her consciousness produced a pink reset button.”

“So she’s still interested and I don’t have to electrocute her?”

“I did not say that.”

“Well, what did you say? I still don’t get it.”

“She is… A person and you cannot simply hack love into her. She will come around if she wants to.”

“Ugh.”

“Enid. I understand that you are having trouble expressing your friendship at this moment and that you perceive Shannon to be another roadblock in your way, but that is not the case.”

“I… Yeah.”

“Do you think you could simply talk to her?”

“I really don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“I will be behind you. If things get out of hand I will hack into her systems and shut her down. I have the code prepared and only need to be able to connect to her.” Dendy holds up a USB, then reaches around and connects it to her backpack. She gives Enid a thumbs up. Enid smiles at her warmly, proud of the wisdom that makes Dendy so reliable. She’s certain that the cute little Kappa helping her out will get into Point Prep one day. 

“Alright. I guess I really should, but this is so  _ annoying _ . I wanted to just kick her butt and that be that.”

“Not all problems can be handled with kicks, Enid.”

“We’ll see about that,” Enid replies in a joking tone. She starts walking, looking for Shannon. “Let’s just hope she’s somewhere in the plaza still and not back in Boxmore.” Dendy follows a bit behind, though she’s popped a hologram screen up in front of her and is paying much more attention to it than their actual search.

“Listen, loser, you’re lucky I even came in here! You don’t  _ deserve _ Shannon’s business, okay?” It looks like Enid doesn’t need Dendy’s help, at least to find Shannon. She spots her yelling into the Neo Rama Game Center as the door closes on her. She’s still wearing her bad disguise.

“Shannon!”

She turns to Enid and huffs, “Oh  _ great _ , now a Lakewood loser is after me? I’m not even doing anything this time!” She readies her hand blades.

“No, no. Shannon, I want to talk to you.”

“Yeah right! You just want me to lower my defenses.”

“No, I don’t. I really don’t.” Enid holds her hands up in front of her in surrender. “I know it’s… Weird. But I really  _ do _ just want to talk to you.”

Shannon looks around for a moment, looking a little nervous, then lets her blades retract into her wrists. She sighs and motions for Enid to follow her into a more secluded area, which happens to be a kind of gross alley next to the Game Center. “Alright, fine. What is it?”

“I want to know if… You’re still interested in Rad,” Enid makes a face as she says it. It’s weird to play matchmaker and have to talk about romantic matters like this. She’s so used to razzing people about it that talking like this feels weird on her tongue.

“What? No!” Shannon crosses her arms and turns away, defensive. “Why would I be? He thinks I’m a hunk of junk.”

“No he- Wait.” Enid takes a moment to process, then asks, “Shannon, did you  _ hear _ him after you self-destructed?”

“You think I’m  _ stupid _ enough to just listen to my annoying brothers’? I didn’t _ self destruct _ I just… Threw some spare parts into a pile and blew that up.” She turns towards Enid with a stomp and growls, “And the second I was away Rad made it clear how he really felt! I was just a… A fling! He didn’t  _ care _ about me.” Her reset button flashes pink and she puts a hand to it, seeming pained.

“Oh, no. Shannon.” Enid reaches towards her to offer some comfort only to be slapped away.

“Don’t  _ pity _ me!”

“No, that’s not it! It’s just… He said that because he was hurt. And he’s kind of an meathead when he’s upset.”

“So what? I don’t care.”

“It’s just… He’s been moping around the bodega since this whole thing happened. He ate protein powder straight out of the tub.”

“Gross.”

“I know, it really is gross.” 

Shannon frowns and looks at the ground for a moment, then up at Enid. “He… Really cares, though? He didn’t just want to smooch my hot robot lips and run?” The reset button on her chest is pink, but a bit dull. Enid nods.

“He does, yeah.”

Shannon thinks about it for a moment, then turns away. “Well, so what? You and my brothers are just going to make this  _ suck _ again. I’m better off not bothering with this.”

“No! You’re not. And we’re not! I mean… I’m not. I’m…” Enid takes a deep breath. “I’m Rad’s friend and I want him to be happy. I’ll distract your brothers so you guys can go on dates.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. And if I explain to K.O. he’ll do the same.”

She mulls it over. “Alright, okay. But he has to ask me out. Shannon will not lower herself to the position of suitor.”

Enid laughs a little, “Alright, alright. I’ll see what I can do.”

Dendy tugs at the leg of Enid’s shorts. “I believe I have something that will help.” She pulls off her backpack and sets it down, then fiddles with it for a moment until a loud printer noise comes from it. “I apologize for the particularly simple method, but… If you want to hide your feelings from your siblings at Boxmore, you will need to keep your reset button the correct color.” 

Shannon walks over and squats by Dendy, watching with actual interest as a sheet of green triangle stickers print out. “Oh, yeah. I guess I get kind of… Pink?” She lets Dendy place a sticker on her without making a single snide comment or rude gesture. Enid was afraid she may need to step in and protect her young friend, but… Shannon  _ really _ isn’t up to anything right now. In fact, she would mistake her for friendly if she didn’t know she was a Boxmore bot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this is too dialogue heavy??


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Enid puts her plan into action. While waiting to see the results she gets a few frantic messages from Drupe, warning her about an incoming attack.

“Rad, she’s outside again.”

“Who, Sha- I mean… _She_ ? You’re gonna have to be more specific than that, Enid. There’s lots of _‘she’s_ around the plaza.”

“You know I’m talking about Shannon. You stupid meatloaf.”

“Nuh-uh! You could very well have meant… Mikayla. Or Elodie… Or your _girlfriend_.”

“Girlfriend?”

“Yeah, I mean. You were trying to hide it from me, but Drupe told me about _all_ about it.”

“Why would I hide a girlfriend from you?”

“Because you’re still secretly hoping I’ll let you go on another date with me! But you don’t hide it well, we _all_ know.”

Enid growls. She knows he’s just being defensive because he is under the impression he’s managed to hide his continued feelings for that metal jerk, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t still being _annoying_. She takes a breath, trying to keep her cool. “I don’t know who you’re talking about. I just know I’m getting tired of you and Shannon staring through the windows at each other.”

Rad drops the box he was carrying and he nervously looks around. “S-Staring at each other? You know we hate each other, right Enid? Last time we fought I knocked her head off.” K.O. peeks around the corner of one of the aisles, watching the scene with concern. Enid makes a mental note to let him in on her plans soon. She only hasn’t so far because she didn’t want him to accidentally blab her plans before things were more in motion.

“Last time you fought you still had the bags in your car from when you decided to run-away with her.”

“I told you that in confidence, Enid! Why are you bringing it up?”

K.O. walks over and looks between Enid and Rad. “Is something wrong, guys?” With a pout, he adds, “I don’t like it when you fight.”

“We’re not fighting, K.O.” Enid assures him.

“Are we not? It sure seems like-” he glances at K.O. and pauses for a moment to think. Then he huffs and walks out the front door. “Whatever, I’m taking a break.” He mumbles angrily to himself as the door closes behind him with a familiar, customary ‘ding-ding.’

“Enid, were you picking on Rad again?” K.O. asks as he comes up to the counter and takes a seat.

“A little, but I promise it’s for a good reason.” She looks around, then leans in close and whispers, “Do you want to know why?”

“Was he being mean first?”

“What? No. Well he was kind of being a jerk, but he always is.” She pulls him closer and puts a hand to one side of her mouth, making things a bit more dramatic and exciting for her little buddy. “Listen, it’s a secret but… I’m setting up a date for Rad and Shannon.” K.O. gasps and puts his hands on his cheeks. So precious.

“But Enid, Shannon blew herself up. She doesn’t want to date Rad anymore. And Rad said he doesn’t like Shannon either.”

“Yeah, but Rad is a liar and Shannon already told me she’s still interested.”

“Ooooh!” K.O. thinks on this for a moment, then asks, “Well, what does you setting up a date have to do with you picking on Rad?”

“It got him outside, where Shannon is waiting.”

“Okay, yeah! It did do that. But I have another question.”

“Shoot, kid.”

“Who’s your girlfriend?”

“I think he just made that up. I don’t have a girlfriend right now.”

“Have you checked?”

Enid laughs and pats K.O.’s head. “I haven’t. I guess I could go check.”

K.O. thinks for a moment, then smiles and hops down off of the counter. “No, that’s okay. I believe you, Enid. I’m gonna go… Do some hero training stuff outside.”

He hurries away before Enid can finish saying, “Wait, don’t leave me here alone!” She groans but then just tries to relax against the counter. The little guy probably wants to see how things are playing out between Rad and Shannon. If there didn’t have to be _somebody_ in the bodega Enid would do the same thing. In fact, she might do the same thing anyway depending on what customers show up.

Enid pulls out her phone and starts scrolling through social media. There’s yet another bubble bath review from Raymond. A poorly taken selfie from Colewort. Those posts about the dentist from Red Action, she gives a few of them a heart. But not too many and none of them in a row, that would seem like she’s desperate. Which maybe she shouldn’t worry about now that they’re friends, but the feeling she’ll come off as a weird fangirl persists.

Soon, though, she gets a message. Then several more in quick succession. From Drupe? She doesn’t really talk to drupe much, so she doesn’t know what this might be about. She opens up her messaging app.

 

 **Drupe❀** **:** Hey Enid

 **Drupe❀** **:** You need to like, hide

 **Drupe❀:** Red is supes miffed at you

 **Mixmaster♦Ninja:** What?

 **Drupe❀** **:** Look, I’m just warning you

 **Drupe❀** :And don’t tell her I did!

 **Drupe❀** **:** I just know K.O. talked to her and then she said she was after you

 

Enid stares down at her phone, confused. Did she not heart enough of her Social Media posts, or did she heart too many? No, that wouldn’t make Red angry. Maybe _annoyed_ , but not angry. But then, no matter how hard she racks her brain she can’t come up with anything else she might have done to offend Red.

Red Action bursts in the door, not quite looking like she’s prepared to answer any delicate questions Enid might have. “Hey! Did you think you could get away with making fun of me like this? It’s not _cool_ Enid!” She aims her arm blaster towards Enid and growls as it charges up.

“What are you talking about? I’ve _never_ made fun of you!” Enid hops out of the way as the bright blue burst shoots out of Red’s blaster. The missed shot knocks over a gum display and leaves singe marks on the ground and wooden display rack.

Red Action snarls and starts shooting off smaller bursts at Enid in quick succession. Enid grabs an armful of chip bags and throws them up to meet the blasts to keep them from destroying anything _else_ in the store. “You totally are! You told Drupe you were going to ask me out and now I find out from that twerp K.O. that you were planning a date with _Radicles_ the whole time? I am not second best to that meat-head!”

“I’m not going on a date with Rad, that’s gross!”

“Oh, yeah right! I know you two dated in middle school, you’re just getting back together now and decided to spite me with it.”

“No, you don’t understand!” Enid makes a few hand signs and disappears, replaced with a log. She reappears in the vents, peering out between the slats into the bodega. Red looks around with her blaster cocked, searching for her target. “I’m planning a date _for_ Rad, not _with_ him!”

“Why can’t he plan his own date?”

“I’m just helping him out so he can date _Shannon_. And I never told Drupe I was going to ask you out, I just asked for help planning a date. I even said it wasn’t for me!”

“Well that’s just what people say, of course she thought you meant a date for you!”

“Look, I’ll make it up to you, just… Put away your weapon, huh?”

Reluctantly, Red lowers her blaster arm and lets it cool down. “Alright, fine. But I don’t see what you could do to make up for _humiliating_ me like this.” Enid kicks open the vent and hops down to the floor, then nervously steps towards Red Action.

She is willing to admit that she does, in fact, harbor feelings for the future girl in front of her. Mostly because this outburst from Red has shown Enid that Red feels the same way. So Enid can be pretty sure that she won’t be turned down and then laughed at for being a desperate, stupid fan-girl.

“I want to take you out.”

Red blushes and takes a step back. Then she crosses her arms and looks away. “You’re just saying that ‘cause I came in here and made a scene.”

“No, I want to take you out. I’ve wanted to for like, ever.” Enid laughs at herself, “I just assumed you were too cool for me. But… This isn’t about cool.”

“W-Well.” Red takes a moment to compose herself, then nods. “Alright, yeah. We’ll go on a date. But first you have to tell me about this whole Shannon and Rad thing. It sounds _nuts_.”

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Enid's four-man date team tackle the surveillance and preparation aspects of Shannon and Radicles' date.

“So, like. Rad wants to take me to dinner at Fist-Pump. Can you sneak me over there by seven?”

“Of course! I’ve got it covered.” Enid smiles at Shannon and gives a thumbs up, before a cough from around the side of the alley dumpster causes her to correct herself. “I mean, uh...  _ We’ve  _ got it covered.” Shannon looks at her in confusion before a small train of heroes emerge; Red Action, K.O., and Dendy step out from behind the trash box in that order.

“Have you been... Assembling a _ team  _ to make sure Rad and I can go on a date?”

Dendy gives a nod, “Inadvertently, she has. This started as a duo, then a trio, then K.O. caused it to become a quartet by nosing around the Plaza.”

“I wasn’t being nosy! I just wanted to help Enid figure out who she was dating.”

Dendy gives him a sigh and a light pat on the head. “K.O., do you not think that Enid would be aware if she was truly in a romantic relationship with someone?”

“Well... Maybe.”

“You wanted to know about the  _ rumor _ . Perhaps it was subconsciously, but that was the knowledge you sought.” K.O. pouts as the truth is laid out in front of him.

Shannon scoffs, “Whatever. Just get me to my date without my stupid, awful brothers getting in the way.”

Red Action offers her an arm. “Alright, I have a friend who can help you get ready.”

“ _Excuse_ _me_? I can get myself ready just _fine_.” Shannon takes a step back, offended.

Enid quickly puts a hand over Red Action’s mouth before she can say something insulting in response. She quickly comes up with a reason for Shannon to get ready with Red Action that  _ isn’t _ so she won’t show up to her date in oven mitts and a fanny pack. “It’s just so you don’t have to get ready at home! So your brothers aren’t suspicious.” Red glares at her and gives her hand a lick, then laughs when Enid pulls it back in disgust and wipes it off on her shorts.

Shannon slowly nods. “Alright, yeah. That makes sense. But your friend better do a good job.” She reluctantly takes Red's arm and they walk down the alley, staying out of Boxmore's line of sight. 

Enid punches her fist into her palm then takes a breath in. “Alright. Dendy, K.O., we need to make sure Raymond and Darrell are distracted. I don't think any of the other bots give a cob about what Shannon gets up to.”

Dendy pulls off her hackpack and sets it down in front of her, then opens up a few holo-screens and starting to type at a keyboard extended from a front pocket. “According to Mr.Gar's surveillance system, Darrell is coloring at his desk and... Raymond is playing racket ball on the production floor. They are not threats at the moment.”

“Alright, good,” Enid says, “We'll just keep an eye on them until Shannon gets to her date.” She turns away from K.O. and Dendy and grins wide, rubbing her hands together. She and Red Action have already made plans to spy on the date once they've made sure the other Boxmore robots are taken care of. They're both certain that Shannon and Rad attempting romance will make for popcorn-worthy hijinks.

“Oh, ooh, Dendy! What's Darrell coloring?” K.O. excitedly peeks over her shoulder, trying to get a look at the papers on Darrel's desk even though the video feed isn’t a good angle for that.

“K.O. I cannot move the camera without risking alerting Lord Cowboy Darrell.”

“But  _ Dendy _ , I wanna know. What if he's drawing... Enid! But with big stink lines!”

Enid gasps. “He’d better not be!”

“Well he  _ could _ be.”

With a suddenly serious tone, Enid demands, “Dendy, show me what he’s drawing.”

Dendy shakes her head. “Enid, I cannot advise that we utilize the camera’s mobility.” Enid and K.O. whine in unison. Enid crosses her arms and plops onto the ground cross-legged with a huff. K.O. climbs into her lap and mimics her pose. Dendy looks over at them for a moment before giving a sigh and relenting. “Alright. I will attempt to be stealthy.”

Enid and K.O. both smile and hurriedly clamber over to sit behind Dendy, watching her screens. Slowly, the picture shifted, moving from in front of Darrell to the side. He looks around cautiously, with clear paranoia and says something to himself they can’t hear through Dendy’s feed. She stops the camera. They can see now that the drawing is just a bad crayon picture of Lord Boxman holding a present towards Darrell. 

“Are the two of you now satisfied?”

Enid nods, a bit embarrassed about getting caught up in the moment. K.O. offers a tense laugh, relieved at least that they don’t seem to have totally been caught.

Dendy smiles and gives her a light pat on the leg. “It is alright Enid, K.O.. I understand that you both have a need to satisfy your curiosity. I often indulge my inquiring mind.” 

As luck would have it, Raymond and Darrell keep themselves busy throughout the day. Raymond eventually moves on to grooming himself in the robot lounge and Darrell moves to the production floor to check on a machine before getting on a video-call with Cosma. After some time, Red Action waves to the group from the other end of the alley and they get up and walk in her direction. K.O. puts Dendy’s hackpack on his back so that she can keep an eye on the video feed more easily.

“Alright, presenting  _ Shannon _ !” Red motions her hand and blaster to one side with dramatic flourish. Shannon steps out from behind a bush looking pretty spiffy. She’s wearing a purple tee shirt with Billiam Milliam’s face plastered on the front tucked into a pair of black pleather pants. The look is completed with a bomber jacket is black with gold sleeves and a pair of black boots with a reasonable chunky heel. She even has lipstick on her mouth instead of scribbled all over her face.

She crosses her arms. “I dunno, I wouldn’t have picked this out. Except the shirt, it was a gift from Daddy.”

“Maybe not, but you look great,” Enid asserts, looking her up and down. “Like, _ really _ great.” 

Shannon blushes and turns away, “Alright, yeah. I’m gorgeous. But I’m not going on a date with  _ you _ , Enid. Calm down.”

Enid laughs good-naturedly, taking the somewhat snide comment in stride. “Alright, alright. It’s time you get going.” 

Shannon turns her hand into a digital clock and then gasps at the time, before transforming it once more into a hand. “Oh  _ cob _ ! You losers almost made me late. Ugh.” She dashes off in a hurry, looking awkward as she runs instead of blades off to her date.

Red Action snorts and puts a hand around Enid’s shoulder as they watch Shannon rush away. “Wow, okay. What a thanks for giving her a makeover.”

“Well, you know. She’s still a Boxmore _ butt _ -head. I think this is the best we could hope for.”

Dendy comes over to stand beside Enid, then looks up at her. “Do you plan to keep an eye on their date, Enid?”

Caught red handed, she gives a nod and nervous laugh. “Well, uh... Yeah. Red and I were going to do a little...  _ Espionage _ . Why?”

“I planted a listening device on Shannon’s boot while she was distracted by your conversation.” 


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Enid, Red, Dendy, and K.O. do some spying

“Oh, Shannon. Has anyone ever told you how your metal shimmers beautifully under LED lights?”

“Rad! That’s so cheesy. Tell me _ more _ .”

Enid and Red snort in unison before huddling together and chuckling at the voices coming out of Dendy’s backpack. K.O. clasps his hands together and smiles, cooing. Dendy just keeps her eyes on the prize, staring at the outdoor section of Fist-Pump through the one set of binoculars they’ve been switching between all night.

“Oh Cob. Dends I’m so glad you thought to put that mic on Shannon. This is the best,” Red says. Her cheeks are rosy from laughing so much and for so long. Enid smiles at her warmly, then catches herself looking to long and averts her eyes. This night has been  _ great _ . Shannon has just been egging Rad into showing her with compliments that have gotten weirder and more specific throughout the night as he struggles to please her. Shannon ordered motor oil on her salad the called the waiter a loser when he asked if she was serious.

Dendy gives a thumbs up. “It was my plan from the beginning to do a bit of surveillance but- Oh no.”

“What’s wrong?” K.O. asks.

Dendy puts a finger up to her lips, then motions to her backpack.

“Ugh, there’s something rattling around in my shoe. What is this?”

“Huh, that’s super wierd. It looks like one of Dendy’s... Super spy listening devices.”

“One of  _ what _ ?” 

There’s a crunch and a loud, sharp noise. Enid and Red cover their ears with their hands and K.O. pulls his headband down to cover his. “It seems we have been found out. I would recommend we leave the area.” Dendy puts the binoculars in her backpack before standing up and dusting herself off. “I do not know how fast the two of you are, but I know from experience that K.O. and I can outrun Rad when he is distressed. Especially since he is prone to tripping and we have a head start. Come on, K.O.” She offers him a hand which he takes and the two of them start running off.

“Uh... Bye Enid, we’ll meet you back at the Plaza?”

Enid tries to get a good look down at the restaurant before turning to Red Action. “Alright, we should go too.” Red gives her a firm nod and then offers her own hand to take with a playful smirk. Enid takes it and they start running, admittedly slowed down by running linked instead of side-by-side. 

“Enid? What are you doing here? Were you with Dendy?”

Enid stops in her tracks, turning around to face Rad who has his hands on his knees to catch his breath. Shannon stands behind him, shoes in one hand and skating blades out. Red drops Enid’s hand and gives her a slight elbow before whispering, “Come on, he’s tired, we can still get out of here.” Enid shakes her head.

“Kind of, yeah.”

“Sh-Shannon _ told _ me that you set this up. Was it to  _ make fun of us _ ? What the heck, Enid, that’s just... Mean.”

Enid feels a pang of guilt in her stomach. Her meddling wasn’t  _ not _ to make fun of them. In fact, she was really looking forward to making fun Rad for dating Shannon once this little fling subsided but now she’s looking at them and thinking about how much fun they seemed to be having on their date and she just feels bad. “That’s not why I set you up. I mean, you were just sitting around the bodega moping! And then Dendy said she put the thing in Shannon’s boot and-”

“And Dendy is a _ kid _ ! It’s weird when she does it but it’s not like... Malicious!”

“Yeah, what he said! You losers are the  _ worst _ .”

Enid takes a deep breath and puts a hand on her forehead. “Yeah. I mean. Things probably got out of hand.”

Red Action scoffs, “I dunno, it was fun. And it’s not like we were out here to watch you two play tonsil hockey. We just thought it would be hilarious to see how you dorks courted, and it  _ was _ .”

“Red!”

She crosses her arms, then looks away and at the ground, “But... Yeah, we weren’t being  _ nice _ , I guess. Sorry.” 

Rad takes a deep breath and stands up straight. “Whatever. Shannon, let’s just get back to our date, okay?”

“Yeah, whatever.” After Shannon sticks her tongue out at Enid and Red she goes to put her boots back on and stumbles a little. Rad smiles warmly at her and gives her hand with it, letting her use one of his forearms to balance and holding the other boot while she pulls the first one on. It strikes Enid just how happy he looks with her.

“Red?”

“Yeah?”

“Could you, uh. Call your hovership? We should get home. And we should hunt down Dendy and K.O. too.”

“Sure thing, Enid.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Enid sits at work, worried that Rad might be avoiding her after what she pulled.

Enid sits behind the counter, visibly lacking her usual chill. She repeatedly looks up at the clock. She chews on some cherry bomble gum that she bought specifically to keep herself from biting her nails anymore today. She never quite looks at the door, but lets her eyes wander dangerously close to it.

Rad is uncharacteristically late today. Sure, both of them are known to skip out on the first fifteen or twenty minutes of their shift often, but he’s three hours late now. And she doesn’t know if he called in sick, or even worse, quit, because Mr. Gar isn’t at the bodega today. He left a note on the counter informing Enid that she would be in charge because he would be on a mission all day. K.O. hasn’t heard from him and Enid is afraid to send him a message given what happened yesterday.

Yeah, she screwed up, but even if Rad is a buffoon he wouldn’t quit his job over something like this. Right? Even if she, Red, K.O., and Dendy all decided to spy on his date because they thought it would be funny, he must be at least a little over it by now. 

Enid drops her head onto the counter and twines her fingers into her hair, thoroughly messing up her ponytail. She groans loudly, annoyed with herself. She doesn’t understand how she didn’t see how messed up what she did was until Rad confronted her about it. She doesn’t get why she couldn’t just do something nice for Rad for  _ once _ without adding in a little venom.

There’s no reason for it, outside of habit. She’s not still mad at him for treating her badly on their first date. That was in  _ middle school _ . She’s not jealous of him. She has her own girlfriend. Maybe she’s just projecting her own issues, but she doesn’t like to think about that possibility very long. Her phone buzzes.

 

**R3D_4CT10N** : BABE u doin ok

**R3D_4CT10N** : u still seemed bummed when i dropped u off

**Mixmaster♦Ninja** : Im fine 

**Mixmaster♦Ninja** : little worried since Rad hasn’t showed up yet

**R3D_4CT10N** : aw dont worry about that nerd

**R3D_4CT10N** : he’ll get over it

**Mixmaster♦Ninja** : I guess : / 

**R3D_4CT10N** : you ARE still bummed

**R3D_4CT10N** : u need me to get over there and cheer u up?

**R3D_4CT10N** : (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧

**Mixmaster♦Ninja** : haha

**Mixmaster♦Ninja** : Alright, but after work

**R3D_4CT10N** : i’ll visit whenever i want

**R3D_4CT10N** : cant stop me

**R3D_4CT10N** : (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧

 

Enid smiles softly, put in a significantly better mood. She’s still worried about where Rad might be and if maybe he’s going to be avoiding her for awhile, but she’s not so actively focused on it. She just needs to give him space and time. She  _ should _ have just given him space and time to grieve his relationship with Shannon instead of trying to set them up again. No, she should have put more effort into talking to him about it instead of resorting to taunting and teasing to try to squeeze information out. 

The little chime above the door gives out a charming, familiar tone. “Enid,” Rad deadpans as he comes in. He doesn’t seem particularly upset, but he’s also  _ decidedly _ not happy to see her.

“Rad, you’re here. I was worried about you.”

He gives a slight start, apparently caught off guard by his co-worker expressing concern for him. Guilt builds up in Enid’s throat as she notes this, forcing her to swallow her bomble gum to soothe it. He dismisses it, though, and looks up and off away from her. “Oh were you? I thought maybe you and Red Action tailed me home to catch anything  _ embarrassing _ I might do.”

“I... No. Look Rad, I’m sorry. I know I took things too far. I shouldn’t have spied on you, I shouldn’t have even let Dendy spy on you. You were on a date with someone you obviously like, even if I don’t understand I should-”

“I know you’re sorry! It’s just... You say you’re sorry and you still do stuff like this.”

Enid regrets swallowing her bomble gum. Her teeth clench together. “I know.”

“And this time it’s just  _ confusing _ ! Like, you set me up on a date in  _ secret _ . Then you decided to make fun of me for being on the date?”

“I know.”

“Like, am I your friend or do you just like to make fun of me?”

“No! I mean. You are my friend, I’m just really, _ really _ stupid.”

Rad scratches the back of his head, obviously processing. “ _ Go on _ .”

“Like, I saw that you were sad and because asking you about it like  _ once _ didn’t work I decided I had to hatch some kind of weird scheme. Who does that? And then it was such a bad plan that Red Action tried to kick my butt and then we started dating  _ in the middle of this plan to get you a date,  _ as a direct result of what I was doing to try to set you up.”

“Wait, you’re _ dating _ now?”

“Yes.”

“Because you messed up your plan  _ that _ badly?”

“ _ Yes _ . I’m a _ fool _ .”

Rad looks at her for a moment, trying to stay serious, then snorts. Then he full on belly laughs, his eyes tearing up a bit. “And  _ you _ call  _ me _ a Stupid Meatloaf?” Enid smiles, then starts laughing alongside him.

“Oh, shut up. I got you the date, didn’t I?”

“ _ Barely _ ! You only had to ask Shannon if she was still interested, everything else you got help with.”

“How do  _ you _ know that?”

“Shannon! She told me that you basically just stood there while Dendy printed her the sticker for her button and Red and Drupe helped pick an outfit and do make-up.”

“Okay, fine. I  _ supervised _ .”

“Uh-huh. Sure. Now tell me how you managed to donk up so bad that Red Action both  _ attacked _ you and started  _ dating _ you, even though you  _ barely did anything _ . I gotta know.”

“Alright. But one thing first.”

“Yeah?”

Enid takes a breath and then looks Rad in the eyes. “I promise, on my honor as a ninja, I’ll try harder not to mess with you so much.”

“Ooh, serious ninja Enid”

“I mean it.”

“I know, I know. And I believe you.  _ But _ if you really want to make this up to me you’ll pay for the lightning nachos I’m gonna eat while you tell me just how bad you messed up.”

“You big dweeb.”


End file.
